Campaign building
Paul Petit (GLW #321) provides little detail in his letter implying a "lack of activity" by the Democratic Socialist Party in building campaigns.
When he opens the GLW that arrives in his mail each week, does he notice the myriad of campaigns and struggles that GLW actively promotes and are therefore built by the members of the DSP and Resistance who distribute the paper each week? It is this commitment by members of the DSP and Resistance which makes GLW such an effective voice for the left, a builder of actions and a signpost for people looking for an alternative.
Just some of the committees and campaigns that DSP members have been involved in building in Adelaide in the recent past (in no particular order) include: the Kumarangk Coalition's activities; the Sea of Hands; the Clarrie Isaacs and Reihana Mohideen speaking tour; anti-racism, anti-One Nation and counter-National Action actions; International Women's Day; pro-choice activities; Reclaim the Night, Child-Care Coalition activities; the Dita Sari Network and Free the Political Prisoners campaign; independence for East Timor; Committees in Solidarity with Central America and the Caribbean; the Dorotea Wilson tour; Australia-Cuba Friendship Society; Australian Aid for Ireland; Renfrey Clarke's speaking tour on politics in Russia; actions against the Gulf War, nuclear weapons and testing, and the Jabiluka mine; Amnesty Women's Group; the free speech campaign; MUA pickets and fundraising; CPSU activities; anti-privatisation campaigns; May Day; the free education campaign; the SA Education Network; Women on Campus; Network of Women Students in Australia; etc. All members of the DSP in Adelaide are full-time workers or students, committing our "spare" time to this political activity.
If Paul is aware of any significant campaigns that the DSP has overlooked in the recent past, we welcome his information.
It is often frustrating, as individual activists, to see the plethora of potential campaigns that could be pursued. This is a basis upon which members of the DSP choose to be part of a political party which can collectively decide which campaigns have the most potential to involve wide layers of radicalising people, impact upon the society and push us toward the long-term goal of changing it.
Adelaide DSP
[Abridged.]
Hanson
After One Nation's 23% score in the Queensland election on 13 June, it is obvious that left-wing mobilisations to protest at Pauline Hanson's rallies are — though necessary — not enough to beat the populist far-right. We have to turn round the trade unions to tackling the unemployment, poverty, and insecurity on which One Nation feeds by class-struggle methods both industrially and — by positively using their weight inside the ALP — politically.
Why then did Marxist groups — the DSP and ISO — make their main election-time activity on One Nation a march to Parliament House in Brisbane on 7 June to demand that the Coalition "put One Nation last" on their how-to-vote cards?
Obviously we'd put One Nation last ourselves, and we use the Coalition's preference for One Nation to expose and denounce them. But for socialists to push for a Coalition-Labor-left "popular front" against One Nation can only disarm us, and convince desperate poor people looking towards One Nation that we are a left face of the official politics they hate.
Brisbane
Short stories
Who would want to write short stories even though the man who earned a place on the old $10 note was addicted to the habit before he took on the bottle?
After seeing an ad for the 1998 Greater Dandenong Short Story Competition, prize money $6000, I made a phone call and received a glossy entry form.
The Open Section offered a $3000 prize for an entry fee of $7. On the basis of the 800 entries for the last competition I'd entered, this would mean a credit of $5600 to the City of Greater Dandenong, or $2600 in excess of the prize offered and just $400 short of the total amount. Just how great can Greater Dandenong get?
If you open the Australian Writers' Marketplace, you will find that no more than a score or so of Australian companies publish short stories. A few of them pay and an equally small number publish without paying. Among the smartest is a company which runs a competition with a $5 entry fee and pockets both the $5 fee and the story!
How long ago was it that the man on the old $10 note advised young writers to get out of Australia, or failing that, to blow out their brains?
The Sydney Morning Herald advertises the Young Writer of the Year Award for secondary students with the prize winner getting publication in SMH plus pocket computer, software and books donated by Sharp, Dataflow and Allen & Unwin. The idea is to train the new generation to work for nothing.
Stockton NSW
[Abridged.]
The Greens
Listening to parliament today (June 2), I was indignant to hear the prime minister blaming the Labor opposition because they supported the Greens in Tasmania in their fight for the environment. If they hadn't done so there would have been plenty of jobs there now, according to the prime minister.
Well, maybe, but at what cost? To me it seems the Greens have done an important job in saving the planet.
Balmain NSW
Political prisoners
Around the country, student representative bodies have been expressing support for the Indonesian democracy struggle. In Perth, as part of its ongoing solidarity campaign, Resistance put motions to the student Guilds soliciting such support.
At Murdoch and Curtin universities, Indonesian student activist Andi Arief was adopted as an honorary member. At UWA, however, parts of the motion — to donate to ASIET's People's Power Fighting Fund and adopt Andi Arief as an honorary vice-president, did not even make it to a vote.
While good points were raised about the importance of international solidarity, the immediacy of the events in Indonesia and the precariousness of Andi's situation, no counter-arguments were raised other than the possibility of opposition from Indonesian international students. Instead, chairperson Eric Heenan ruled that it was against the Guild's financial regulations to donate to any group not affiliated to the Guild.
While a clear majority of councillors supported adopting Andi Arief, he apparently does not fit the rigid criteria for the sole honorary position enshrined in the Guild Regulations — Honorary Life Member. To be eligible, one must have rendered exceptional service to the UWA Guild. Such service does not include student struggles beyond the limits of UWA — certainly not as far away as Indonesia.
Supporters of the motion drafted a new set of regulations which would allow recognition and support for those who contribute to international student struggles. They were not passed.
This event reflects a disturbing trend of student Guilds refraining from expressing political views, much less being actively involved in campaigns. The process of student union corporatisation, driven by the financial strains resulting from WA's VSU legislation, is being all too readily embraced by some Guild officials. In an attempt to boost membership and revenue, political goals are subordinated or rejected in favour of retail discounts and social clubs.
The UWA Guild recently hired marketing consultants Results Corporation to boost its image. Their advice was that politics "alienates" students. The Guild seems intent on implementing this advice, at least in part.
Perth
[Abridged.]
Abortion bill
The emphasis that some feminists, particularly the Association for the Legal Right to Abortion, have placed on the WA Abortion Bill, passed in full on May 21, is that women have won an outright victory.
Reality shows otherwise. The only beneficial change is that women who have abortions and the doctors that give them can not be sent to jail. The bill leaves half of the procedure in the Criminal Code, severely restricts under 16-year-old women's access to abortion, makes it harder to procure a 20-week plus abortion and leaves doctors who perform abortions open to hefty fines.
State governments that have more draconian abortion laws won't act on them if they perceive a strong community backlash. The strength of an active women's movement is decisive in forcing the government to repeal abortion laws, and increase funding and access to abortion. While campaigning for abortion to be removed from the Criminal Code is important, unlimited access to abortion has to be part of that campaign. If access to abortion diminishes, then the campaign isn't a success.
The WA Bill has removed 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ of the procedure from the Criminal Code, but it has restricted access to abortion in real terms for some women and has not clarified the confusion that exists for doctors. A successful campaign should be about removing the procedure completely from the criminal code and increasing women's access to abortion.
The WA bill hasn't delivered. Let's not be under any illusions.
Brunswick Vic
[Abridged.]